Your Purpose
by Bulbaguy
Summary: "What's your purpose?" A Ruby learns of her purpose and finds a way to defy the laws of Homeworld to become what she actually wants to be.
1. Chapter 1

"Ow…"

That was all that the small, red gem had to say after she fell on the ground, what she said being natural as she spat the dirt out of her mouth. She had no memory of what she was doing here, or even where she was. She weakly got to her feet, her arms fumbled as she attempted to push herself off the ground, groaning as she finally rose, stumbling back a bit and nearly falling.

"Woah!..." She said while she tried balancing herself, her arms going in circles before standing firm on the dirt ground.

She looked at her hands, marvelling at their size as she brushed the loose dirt and rocks off of them. Her eyes travelled to the ropey muscles along her arm as she flexed her fist. She smiled proudly as she proceeded to flex the muscles on her other arm, chuckling as she felt how strong she was.

Her eyes went down farther to the brown and red shirt that she was wearing, pulling at the tight fabric that hugged her chest, running her thumb against the bright yellow diamond insignia that shone bright when the sun finally came out from the clouds.

As she began to step forward, she noticed a glimmer from her foot. She propped her foot on its heel and studied it, seeing the square shaped facet on the… gem.

"So, I'm a gem… A… Ruby." She realized before flexing her toes against her gem, grunting as a small amount of pain struck her from touching it.

Ruby bent down to touch the red gem with her fingers, shivering slightly as it tried to hurt her, but eventually the pain went away a few seconds. She didn't really want to touch it again in fear of hurting herself again.

Now that she knew what she was, the small gem needed to know why she was here. She tried to remember anything prior to this moment but… there was nothing. It was like she was just born...

As she thought that, Ruby's feet pivoted as she turned her whole body to see a newly formed hole high up on a giant rocky wall, still steaming from the heat of something exploding from inside of it. That's where she must have formed…

"So that's why I don't know anything… I really was born today... " She mumbled before staring at the wall longer, noticing more holes shaped exactly like hers.

There must be more Rubies here, but she couldn't see any nearby. The thought of seeing more gems like her excited and scared her. What if they weren't how she thought they would be?...

She took her eyes off of the wall and around her surroundings. This place looked… lifeless. It was just fields of rock and dirt, chasms were all throughout the field. A place where gems were born, the walls were perfect for creating them, plus their resilience made it hard for them to break when they fell after bursting out of their birth spot.

"And there you are Ruby facet 2LM2H, cut 9XJ!" A booming voice shouted from behind Ruby, causing her to freeze in fear.

Loud footsteps impacted the ground, getting more dreadful as Ruby heard whoever called out to her getting closer. It did not sound like a Ruby.

The small, red gem nervously turned around before looking up at the imposing figure looking over her.

The large gem had striking reds and oranges adorned on her outfit, not including the shining yellows of her diamond insignias on her chest and knees. She held a weapon in her meaty hands, a bright red spikey ball attached to a chain, her murderous eyes shot straight through Ruby, like she was going to kill her right then and there.

Her tear shaped gem was located in the most uncomfortable looking place that Ruby could think of, the throat.

"I am Fire Agate, your superior and who will guide you through your training!" The large, muscular gem explained before moving beside Ruby, staring at the wall of the chasm. "There should be two more…"

Not a moment after she spoke, an explosion of dirt and chunks of ground burst from the wall, the only thing being heard after the tremors was the screams of a Ruby falling from her hole to the ground.

"Ow…" She grumbled once she fell down with a loud thud, flipping over to her back as she laid down to get some energy back, panting heavily.

As she stared at the steaming hole that she came from, another explosion impacted the wall from the inside right above where her hole was, leaving another screaming Ruby falling down from the cloud of dirt.

The grounded Ruby also screamed, not having the energy to move, she put her arms over her face to protect herself.

The newly formed gem landed right on top of her fellow Ruby, groaning in pain. She hurt slightly less because of the short, muscular gem cushioning her fall.

"T-Thanks…" The Ruby muttered as she tried to get up, putting her hands on the ground beside both sides of the other gem's head.

Both Rubies opened their eyes at the same time, blushing as their pupils locked into each other, both of their already red cheeks turned darker as they blushed, steam going off of the upper one's hands. They were the first things that they ever saw and being like this felt...

Beautiful.

"I-I'll help you up Ruby!" The one on top nervously said, getting off of her companion quickly, dusting herself off before reaching her hand out for her fellow gem to grab.

"T-Thank you…" The Ruby on the ground graciously accepted and allowed herself to be lifted off the ground, putting her hand on the other gem's shoulder so she didn't fall.

The two Rubies locked eyes once again, entranced in each other's brown eyes as they struggled to say anything.

Fire Agate let out an annoyed sigh as she walked towards the pair of Rubies.

"Isn't that nice, 9XK? You found 9XL." The large, fiery gem sarcastically complimented as she approached the two little gems. "Now come on, we're going to the barracks!"

Fire Agate grabbed the backs of the two Rubies' heads and slammed their foreheads together, making the pair yell out in pain before stumbling back.

"You too 9XJ!" The higher class gem ordered as she and the other two gems began walking into the wasteland looking area.

Ruby decided it was best for her to follow, trotting right beside her fellow red gems, looking at them curiously. They both looked identical.

Not even both of them, all three looked exactly alike with the only difference being their gem placements. One had hers located on her hip and the other was on her knee, while Ruby's was on her foot, in the second most uncomfortable spot she knew…

It was… odd seeing two gems who look the same being affectionate towards each other, she could already tell that was the case as both Rubies were talking and acting like they cared that the other was hurt.

Would she ever experience...that?

"Alright you dolts, we're here!" Fire Agate yelled back at the three gems as they approached what Ruby slightly dreaded.

Hundreds of rubies in one area. All in large lines waiting to receive orders, looking like a huge square of nothing but cubed brown hair.

Ruby and the other two red gems stood in the front of the rows of rubies, mimicking their stances with their hands in front of their chests, making a diamond symbol as their legs pressed solidly against each other.

Every single ruby stared at their superior, awaiting what she would say or do, willing to do whatever she would order them.

"Ok you moronic pests! You all know why you're here, to train to be as acceptable of guards as you can be for such an idiotic gem as a Ruby can be!" Fire Agate paced around each row of Rubies, giving her speech as she examined each and every one starting from the back.

"Now, I personally do not care if you fulfill your duties so long as it doesn't make my gem the next thing under a Bismuth's hammer! Your jobs will be to protect any gem that will be assigned to you or fight in whatever invasion that our great, powerful, mighty Yellow Diamond wages on the next planet in our empire's quest to insure the survival of our race!"

Ruby gulped as she heard the hot-headed gem speak about what they are to do. It seemed like Rubies were the lowest of the low in terms of gems, meant only for fighting and protecting, and how Fire Agate talked to them, had little respect. She hadn't been alive for very long, but she could already tell that this way of life wasn't for her.

"9XJ, are you listening?!" The large, imposing gem glared down at the unsuspecting Ruby who was lost in her own thoughts.

"Y-Yes my Agate!" Ruby nervously answered, trying to keep her composure as Fire Agate's burning eyes looked her small, weak body over.

"Do you know your purpose Ruby?" The tall, destructive gem asked as just her eyes made Ruby want to melt into a puddle.

"To… protect?" The small, red gem asked, her voice cracking before her instructor nodded her head.

"Yes, but a ruby's purpose is also to die for whomever they are protecting. Most rubies don't last twenty years, they'd even be lucky to survive two. That is why you need to succeed in your training!" Fire Agate instructed, her arms behind her back.

"B-But… What if… I don't want to do that?..." A large blush appeared on her face as she blurted that out.

Why did she say that?! It felt so… instinctual. Ruby prepared herself for the worst as she stared at her superior's thighs, refusing to look at her perpetually furious eyes. Instead, she heard a chuckle.

As the small, red gem looked up, she saw Fire Agate was… smiling, starting to laugh.

It began with small snickering, that only she and a few other rubies in the front row could hear, but it started growing and growing, her hair started glowing as she got louder and louder, fading in and out from bright to dark. Eventually the normally stoic gem was laughing hysterically, her hefty arms wrapped around her large chest.

Some Rubies started joining in, laughing nervously at first as if they were unsure if they were allowed to laugh, but got more into it as their realized their superior was too distracted to care.

Her hair eventually erupted into flames as she threw her head back, embers pouring behind her as the flames grew from her boisterous laughter, giving every Ruby more incentive to laugh more.

Ruby wasn't laughing however.

She was terrified beyond comprehension, not knowing what to say. The red gem thought she would get attacked or shattered for saying what she said.

Hundreds of laughing heads didn't help either, getting humiliated was so… demeaning. Her posture changed from the others, she held her muscular arms and began crossing her legs nervously. Sweat ran down her face as she looked at everyone, from the hysterical Fire Agate to the rest of the identical faces making fun of her, like looking into hundreds of mirrors.

Suddenly, as quickly as it started, Fire Agate's posture quickly went back where it was before, the fire on her hair extinguishing before the large gem grabbed Ruby by the top of her cube shaped hair, singeing it slightly.

The short gem yelped in fear as her head was pushed back to look her superior in the face and so she would be unable to grab ahold of the larger gem's arm. Tears tried to go down Ruby's face, but they quickly evaporated from the heat coming from both her and the agate glaring down at her.

"Now listen to me you imbecile! I will not tolerate you going against what you were made for! There have been gems that have done that and they are now pieces unable to form because they're SHATTERED! If you pull this anywhere else, they will crush your gem to dust and then they'll do the same to mine because I was supposed to prevent you from thinking this way!" Fire Agate exclaimed before letting the cowering little Ruby go, pushing her into another ruby.

"Remember your purpose because, well, if you aren't shattered from saving a gem more important than the injectors used to make you worthless beings…" The large, imposing agate threw her head back, her gem glowing as she brought her hand to it, a handle sprouting out as she pulled her signature mace and chain out.

"Then I will." Fire Agate brought her spiked ball down on her own hand, puffing as she knew she set an example for all of the rubies, who stopped laughing and suddenly became scared. Not for Ruby, but for themselves.

The high-class gem scoffed at the small, red gem as she shuffled to get up, trying not to cry from the incident that just transpired. Fire Agate took one last glance at her before walking away, continuing her speech.

The ruby behind her carefully helped Ruby back up, lifting the little gem to get back to her previous stance.

Ruby was conflicted with herself now. She had to try to be what a ruby had to be or else… she could die…

It was hard to argue with that but a part of her knew that getting used like this was… wrong. Why can't all gems be treated the same? Why can't she be the same as Fire Agate?

Why can't she be…

Something other than a Ruby?


	2. Chapter 2

"Your Clarity, please put your dress back on!" A blue Pearl shrieked from inside the Sapphire's room.

Sapphire groaned, putting her hands to her sides as she heard her servant complaining to her about her clothing. The small, blue gem was only wearing a dark blue, sleeveless shirt that was the same color as her ultramarine blue skin with a blue diamond insignia on her chest, and even more dark shorts with a white sarashi wrapped around her stomach. Her clothes hugged her body, they felt much more comfortable than the dress that she was 'supposed' to wear.

Sapphire touched the strips of cloth around her waist with her fingertips, huffing as she thought of wearing that constricting dress again. She liked how free her curve-hugging spandex gave her legs a lot more motion than the large, heavily layered dress would allow for her short legs. The dark blue gem balled her fists, flexing the knuckles until they turned a paler shade of blue. She tried to remain composed as she glared up at her Pearl.

'Stupid dress… stupid Pearl… stupid Homeworld…' The aristocrat thought as she saw her Pearl trying not to look mad with the one eye that wasn't covered by her long bangs.

"I don't want to put it back on. You know how much I hate it…" Sapphire crossed her arms, knowing exactly what the servant would say.

"You can't just wear whatever you'd like, you know that you would-"

"Be shattered, I know…" Sapphire crossed her legs as she stood. "You can't tell me what to do however, you're just a Pearl and you know that… I do see a possible future of myself shattering if I don't, so I'll comply."

The ultramarine gem sighed before putting her bare foot down, her form glowing a hazy white soon after. Her shoulders looked as if they were growing poofy while the clothing at her hips elongated into a big skirt. As soon as it started, the glow stopped, revealing the light blue skirt that she so disliked having while her top remained the same without her sash.

"I understand that you don't like it… or me… but you have to understand the rules of Homeworld so we aren't punished." Her Pearl tried explaining, making Sapphire sigh more and rub her head with her hand.

They spoke of this every time she changed outfits, it was annoying to her. Sapphire wanted to do what she wanted, but the laws of Homeworld prevented any gem to be different from their roles, it was so restrictive. The dark blue gem nodded, finished with arguing over the same thing that they always do.

"Alright then, we shall go outside now, my Sapphire." Pearl suggested, pulling up her notes of things that they had to attend to this day.

Sapphire sighed, about to open the door after all of the tension of not wanting to break her servant's form.

"Oh, your Clarity! Your eye shouldn't be showing!" The blue Pearl quickly reminded the smaller gem in a panic.

"Of course, like every other Sapphire," She growled lowly before brushing her mid-tone teal bangs down to hide her big, darker blue eye that would creep every gem out if they saw it.

Pearl smiled sweetly before putting her hand on the door panel, letting it scan it to allow the door to slide open.

"Thank you, Pearl," Sapphire half sarcastically complimented, walking past the doorway of the door that she could have opened herself.

The small, blue aristocrat huffed, rolling her eye as she was in the dress that she so despised wearing. It was big and poofy, hardly giving her legs any room to move as she hiked her dress up a bit to make it slightly easier to walk. The light blue skirt and all of its layers were longer than her legs which is why it was extremely difficult to move.

The dark blue gem sighed, braving the path as she moved forward with her Pearl walking behind her, the skinny gem still holding the holographic list of all they had to do that day, checking to see what they would do this moment. For now, Sapphire knew that she would meet her friend down this hallway.

Sure enough, her future vision was correct and at the corner of the hall was a gem who looked identical to her except she was a more purple shade. The only thing that wasn't purple was the blue diamond insignia on her chest, showing that they serve the same Diamond.

"Good morning Sapphire, I predicted that we would meet here so I showed up accordingly." Purple Sapphire said happily, folding her hands in front of her lap.

"We meet here every morning Purple, you don't need future vision to know that I will talk to you here," Sapphire sighed, moving next to her purple companion.

Purple Sapphire cocked her head, the blue gem was never this… upset sounding. Her smile faded as she foresaw what was wrong.

"You are tired of talking to me?" The deep lavender gem worriedly asked, her plump lips quivering slightly as she felt saddened by her discovery.

"No, no, I enjoy talking to you. I'm just… tired of doing the same thing everyday. I go to see you, then our Diamond, then do whatever the future holds for the day." Sapphire confessed in a low voice so nobody else would hear.

Both Purple and Pearl only looked at her, confused and unsure of what to make of what the dark blue gem had just said.

"I've… never thought of that before…" Purple Sapphire pondered, thinking for a moment.

"Ah, don't worry about it, your clarity, she's just going through a personality phase, it will probably fix itself soon." Pearl assured the small, lavender gem, ignorant of what her owner was feeling.

Sapphire sighed, rubbing her temples before turning her head to see another Pearl, one of more importance than her own. The skinny, lighter blue gem made a diamond symbol with her arms as she approached the high class gems.

However, trailing behind her was another Pearl, a pink one with a pair of buns in her hair. She did the same as the blue Pearl and turned her arms in the exact shape as her counterpart.

"Your clarity, our Diamonds would like to see you." The blue Pearl announced, the pink one nodding, standing as straight as she could, but still looking slightly anxious.

"Both Blue and Pink? This must be important…" Sapphire wondered before looking into the future to see if this was urgent.

The blue gem sighed softly but stood straight as she turned to her servant.

"Come Pearl, perhaps you will get to see them this time." Sapphire chuckled slightly as she turned away and started walking forward, where the other two Pearls were leading them.

"Do you see that, your clarity?" Pearl asked excitedly, putting her hands together.

"Perhaps…" The small, high class gem giggled as her and the trio of servants walked away from the purple gem.

Purple Sapphire sighed softly as they all left, leaning against the wall while hanging her head down.

"See you later…" She sadly mumbled to herself, knowing that they would be back but still being hurt by her friend leaving her behind.

Sapphire groaned as she approached the door to Blue Diamond's quarters, somewhat dreading her usual duties of having to answer questions for what seems like forever. She never understood why the other Sapphires were happy with doing the same things over and over again, it infuriated her but the punishment outweighed her personal feelings so there was no use in fighting it.

"Pearls are to stay outside." Blue Diamond's Pearl spoke softly to the darker blue Pearl who was beginning to go with her Sapphire.

"O-Oh, yes of course. I apologise..." Pearl nervously replied before standing next to the two nearly identical looking gems and making the same diamond symbol with her arms.

It was an image that the small aristocrat hated, the same looking figures in the same pose while none of them can follow her because of the type of gem they are.

It was disgusting.

Sapphire didn't have time to dwell on it however because the doors immediately opened as she stepped up to the humongous entryways that could even dwarf an Obsidian.

The blue gem looked even more tiny in the large, watery room. A pool of dark blue liquid was in the back of the room while a light mist filled the air. Sapphire walked forward to see the blue and pink giants.

Blue Diamond; her diamond, the top gem that gave orders to all who was under her command. She had conquered many planets, slain all in her path to taking those worlds from their inhabitants.

She was a regal sight with her dark robes dropping to the floor with her paler blue skin and light hair that ran down her body contrasting nicely with each other.

Pink Diamond was very different though. She never had a single colony or gems of her own without the help of another Diamond. She was generally goofier than the other Homeworld rulers, always getting into mischief while being playful enough for most of the gems to love her; though that would imply they had a choice.

Her appearance even looked silly in comparison to Blue. Her big hair and dress looked like something that she would see a lifeform dress their youngling in.

"Hello Sapphire, I have an important job for you to do." Blue Diamond smiled down at her, the large ruler could crush the aristocrat with her foot if she wanted.

"Hmm, yes I will help… demonstrate future vision to Pink Diamond?" Sapphire looked up at her Diamond confused, the path that she took being incorrect.

This wasn't important at all, the possibility that she thought would happen didn't come to be.

The blue gem sighed softly as she saw the Diamonds' smiles, frustrated that she was brought in for this rather than doing what she wanted to do, but even she could see the innocence in the dictators' faces.

"What would you like to know, my Diamonds?" Sapphire asked calmly, fighting her inner feelings to walk away or yell at them.

"How is my colony on Inion doing?" Blue Diamond asked, giving a warm-up question.

Sapphire took a moment to concentrate, seeing the planet that her ruler asked, seeing the gems driving back the original inhabitants, the new gems forming out of the rocky walls, the biome slowly decaying from the injectors.

"The progress is going smoothly, the life on the planet is down to fifty percent and every Inionian there will be dead in two days." The future seeing aristocrat coldly predicted, causing Blue Diamond to pull up a holographic board to check if it was correct.

The dictator smiled as she looked at the data on her screen, pulling it to the eager Pink Diamond who was more than ready to check.

"Oh wow! She was completely right!" The smaller giant ecstatically stated, seeing the numbers lining up perfectly to what the significantly smaller gem said.

"Now Sapphire, what gems are on the planet so far?" Blue Diamond asked, smirking slightly as she hid the information from Pink, causing the shorter diamond to try and peak over her shoulder.

"I see five Zircons, fifteen Aquamarines, seven Jades, two hundred Amethysts, fifty Topaz, and twelve Star Sapphires." The gem said aloud as she saw the data, as well as the gems currently there.

The blue ruler uncovered the information from under her hand, letting Pink Diamond greedily grab the device and put it up to her face, examining every letter on the screen.

"Oh my stars! She's right!" The pink giant exclaimed as she quickly took the holographic board away from her face, making Blue Diamond quickly grasp it in her hand.

"Nicely done Sapphire. A good demonstration of your powers." The blue giant happily said, putting the board away.

"I wanna know more! What will be the most fun thing that I'll do tomorrow?!" Pink Diamond excitedly asked, clapping her hands together in front of her face, stars forming in her eyes as she awaited her answer.

Sapphire groaned quietly before looking to see the happy dictator running down the hallways, then going to her very own garden before closing the day with a visit from White Diamond.

"I see that you will play in your garden with your Spinel and White Diamond, you will all have plenty of fun." The short gem monotonously said to the ecstatic ruler who was already head over heels about the prediction, a huge grin forming on her face.

"I wanna know more! What will we do? What will White wear? What would Spinel say?" Pink Diamond practically jumped up and down in excitement, making the floor shake which made Sapphire stumble.

"That's enough questions Pink, you'll break her." The larger of the two giants slapped the shorter one's wrist, causing her to glare; a look that would be wiped away once Blue Diamond glanced at her again.

"Can I have her Blue? She's adorable and she has cool powers and I just love her so much!" Pink Diamond pleaded, wrapping her arms around the taller gem's waist.

"I've tried giving you other Sapphires that we both made and you turned them down because they weren't pink. There were Purple Sapphire and Indigo Sapphire, both very good gems that I had to put in my court because you didn't like them." Blue Diamond scolded, making the smaller gem huff in frustration.

"Then I'll just make my own Sapphire when I get my own colony…" Pink Diamond mumbled as she crossed her arms and pouted.

Blue Diamond sighed softly before clapping twice, catching Sapphire's attention.

"That will be all Sapphire." The tiny gem's ruler ordered, making her bow before walking back to where she came from.

The mighty doors slid open to show the servants just as they were left. The small aristocrat looked up at her own Pearl, smiling kindly.

"Come now Pearl." Sapphire ordered, leading her away from the others.

"Well, how did it go, your Clarity?" The blue servant asked curiously, looking down at her.

"It went alright, I am happy that it's over now. They were getting on my nerves." Sapphire explained as they turned a corner, going the way that they came from.

"You shouldn't feel that way about the Diamonds, it's an honor to meet them and speak with them. You're lucky to be high ranking." Pearl gently placed an arm on her superior's shoulder.

"I know, but I can't help feeling this. I don't like this system…" Sapphire tried explaining more, the nervousness of saying her ideas out loud was always troublesome.

Pearl was about to speak back, but a tap on the shoulder made her look back and move away.

The small blue gem sighed as she looked behind her, seeing a big orange gem with a dark brown outfit and yellow diamond insignia on her chest approach her.

"Huh, I didn't think I'd see you today." She scoffed, looking down at her, the oval shaped orange gem on her head gleaming in the light.

"Yes you did, I know you follow me Jasper." Sapphire said as she furrowed her eyebrow.

Jasper chuckled, grasping the smaller gem by the throat and pinning her against the wall, making Sapphire gasp in frustration.

"You know you can't resist me. Where would you even be without me?" The big gem sneered, smirking down at the struggling aristocrat.

"You know where you would be if anyone saw this…" Sapphire growled, wanting to kick but the dumb dress didn't allow it.

"You do plenty of things that would get you shattered. And where did you learn it from? Who do you still owe for that?" Jasper pressed harder, her grip on the short gem getting tighter.

The larger gem would have said more if a sharp pain didn't course through her shin, causing her to grit her teeth before falling on the ground.

Sapphire had gotten rid of that constricting skirt, wearing her shorts to kick Jasper in the right spot.

"I know that, but what have you done to make me want you back?" Sapphire asked, glaring at the downed quartz before shifting her dress back on.

"I will get you back… one day…" Jasper vowed, still reeling in pain from the kick.

The short, blue gem didn't even want to look at the floored gem, walking away as fast as she could to her Pearl.

"Oh my Sapphire! How was your chat with Jasper? I haven't seen her in so long!" Her servant happily asked as her superior walked past.

"Let's just go home Pearl. I'm finished for today…"

As Sapphire began walking to her room, the pair looked to see a group of Rubies marching down the hallway in front of them. They looked fresh and brand new.

"Oh, Rubies. Aren't they lovely? Would you like to have some?" Pearl asked before looking down at her mistress happily.

"No. They're stupid, moronic. I would never have a Ruby guard. You know I can defend myself better than any of them." Sapphire said before beginning to walk away, causing her servant to sigh, realizing that she couldn't make her happy at the moment.

As the duo walked away, one of the Rubies looked at them; particularly Sapphire. Her eyes gleamed to life for the first time in days.

She was… excited to see such a beautiful gem.

"Wh-What was that gem? With the Pearl?" The short gem asked the identical looking gem beside her hurriedly.

"Oh? That's a Sapphire. They're really fancy and see the future." The other Ruby answered, chuckling to the gem beside her.

"A Sapphire… that's the best gem I've ever seen…"


End file.
